


im not a grinch, im not mr. scrooge (my heart just needs your light)

by orphan_account



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, sort of fluffy i guess??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 11:30:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2849348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>grant's plan to prove how festive he can be backfires in the best possible way.</p><p>;;</p><p>or the one where grant wasn't the only one who decided to wear an ugly holiday sweater to a christmas party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	im not a grinch, im not mr. scrooge (my heart just needs your light)

Despite what Skye would have people believe, Grant is not at all a Grinch. He actually rather likes the holidays. Just because he doesn't watch every holiday special ever made and exclusively eat sugar cookies and candy canes does not mean he isn't in the holiday spirit. And he's determined to prove it to Skye.

Though when she approaches him with the festively decorated green and red envelope, he can already feel the 'no' on the tip of his tongue.

"Before you say no," Wow, she knows him _too_ well. "Just read it. Trust me."

He sighs and opens the envelope to take out the card. He glances it over and almost can't believe what he's read.

"Bobbi and Lance are really throwing a Christmas party?" He asks. "They're divorced. Why do they think this is a good idea?"

Skye sighs and jumps up on the empty corner of Grant's desk even though she knows that annoys him to no end. "They said they didn't want to make us all choose between either attending her party or his so they decided to just throw one together."

"You know this is just going to end in them arguing, right?" Grant loves Bobbi like a sister and he usually finds himself being supportive of whatever she chooses to do - even ditching him at the security firm to take up a job in her other area of interest: science - but he's not sure he can get behind this.

"Or maybe the power of the holiday spirit will bring them together and they'll get married again!" Grant doubts it but he'll let Skye have her moment. "Seriously, Scrooge, you'd be surprised what the holidays bring out in people."

"I am _not_ Scrooge."

"Sounds like something Scrooge would say."

Grant pins her with a look that gets her to sheepishly stand up from his desk.

"You know what? I will go to this party and I will have fun and I will show you I am not Scrooge." Grant doesn't know why he's so adamant on proving this to her but he is.

Skye just shrugs and heads for the door of his office. "Be careful. Having fun may short circuit your programming, _Robot Scrooge_."

She manages to duck the paper ball Grant throws her way and leaves him to finish up his work.

He doesn't get much done, though. He's too busy Googling gingerbread recipes and shopping online for the perfect holiday outfit.

;;

By the time Grant gets to the Morse-Hunter household, he's about thirty minutes late. He would've been on time but his cookies - his third, unburnt batch - took a little longer to decorate than he anticipated.

When he walks in, he wants to immediately turn around and go back home. He probably would have too, if Trip hadn't spotted him.

"Hey Ward - " Trip's already big smile grows even bigger once he looks down at Grant's outfit. "Man, _what_ are you wearing?"

Grant tugs at his sweater - causing the bells to jingle - defensively. "No one told me it was formal dress. The card just said show up at seven!"

Trip gives a low chuckle. "Believe it or not, you're actually not the only one."

Before Grant can question him further, he feels someone tugging at the plate of cookies in his hands. It's Bobbi, and she looks just about as amused as Trip did when he first saw the shirt. And if _they're_ this amused, Skye's going to absolutely lose it.

"Ward," She's trying hard not to laugh and Grant really wants to go back home. "You brought cookies. Thank you."

"If I had known this was going to be such a formal party I would've brought a bottle of wine instead but," He motions down to his sweater. "Clearly I thought this was a more casual event."

Bobbi places a hand on his shoulder. This motion causes the bells to jingle again. He really _really_ wants to go home. "I have a friend you should meet."

Grant starts to protest but she's already dragging him over to the refreshments table. He doesn't even like being set up when he's wearing his best clothing. He really doesn't want to meet any woman when he's wearing a hideous Christmas sweater that's decorated with bells.

"Holy Christmas Sweater." Of course Skye is the first person they run into. She's not laughing or cracking a joke and Grant momentarily worries that the sight of him in this ridiculous sweater broke her. She doesn't say anything, though. Instead, she pulls her cellphone from her clutch and snaps a picture. Great. Now he's got to worry about what she's gonna do with that. "This is officially the best Christmas party ever."

Grant's about to snatch Skye's phone from her - he cannot let those photos live on her phone - when a flashing red light catches his eye. He doesn't know how he missed her but there's a women standing off to Skye's left wearing an even more ridiculous sweater than he is.

"Ward, this is Jemma." Bobbi says from beside him. "She works with me at the lab."

Grant's momentarily distracted by her sweater - it features Rudolph with an actual LED light for a nose and a very glittery snowy landscape behind him - but quickly snaps out of it and extends his hand.

"Hi, I'm Grant. I see you didn't get the formal wear memo either." He makes an attempt at a light joke.

She laughs and gives his hand a shake. "It seems Bobbi neglected to mention that in her invitation."

"Okay who looks at an invitation for a Christmas party and automatically assumes their most horrendous Christmas sweater is required attire? And besides - " Bobbi starts, in defense of herself. She looks like she was about to go off on a tangent but decided against it. Instead, she places a hand on Skye's shoulder and starts to lead her away from Grant and Jemma. "You know what? Nevermind. You two stay here and discuss your terrible fashion choices and Skye and I will go make some more eggnog."

Skye starts to protest but a look from Bobbi gets her to back down. Clearly, _she_ didn't get the memo that this is a set up. Not that Grant minds. Jemma's particularly adorable and her accent is quite pleasant.

"So not only does Bobbi somehow manage to get us to make complete fools out of ourselves but then she sets us up." Jemma comments then adds under her breath, "What a delightful friend."

Grant's about to agree when an idea crosses his mind. He leans into Jemma to whisper, "Hey, do you want to...not be at this party anymore? Because I don't know about you but I'm getting a little sick of the stares."

He can see her contemplating his question. Honestly he probably should have phrased it better than the old ' _do you wanna get out of here?_ ' line but she's really cute so he's not thinking straight.

"And where would we go?" She asks.

"Somewhere where this," he motions between them and their sweaters. "Is acceptable."

She hesitates for a moment longer before answering. "Well, you're sort of a complete stranger but if Bobbi likes you enough to call you a friend than you must not be a murderer or anything." She straightens - which makes Rudolph's nose blink - and offers her hand. "Lead the way, Grant."

He smiles, takes her hand, and leads her out of the party.

;;

After a quick stop at Starbucks for hot chocolate, Grant and Jemma end up on a bench in front of the giant Christmas tree in the town square. And, much like he had hoped, their sweaters are much more acceptable here. In fact, they've gotten quite a few compliments on them. Granted their mostly from small children but, whatever. A compliment is a compliment.

"Wait so your friend really made your sweater for you?" Jemma's just told Grant her sweater's origin story and it's kind of hilarious.

"When I originally bought it there were no lights but Fitz insisted on making Rudolph's nose light up." She says with a shake of her head. "I think he just wanted to try out these new LEDs he received in the post."

Grant sighs. "Your sweater story is way cooler than mine. I just ordered this online to prove to Skye that I could show some holiday spirit."

Jemma laughs and reaches over to jingle one of the bells on his sweater. "Well I think you succeeded there."

Grant nods in agreement. He glances over at her and can't help but feel a little flutter in his stomach. Maybe it's the scenery - the giant Christmas tree in front of them, the holiday music playing softly from speakers set up around the square, the few snowflakes that are falling from the sky - but Grant's suddenly inspired to do something very unlike him.

"Okay, I know we just met and all, but can I do something totally cheesy and straight out of a terrible holiday movie?" He asks suddenly. She nods a bit unsurely and  he pulls out his cellphone, tapping away at the screen. After a few seconds, he turns the screen towards her and she groans at the image.

"You were right. Pulling up an image of a mistletoe is a terribly cheesy thing to do." She says through a few giggles.

"Well I don't have any actual mistletoe on me and I kind of really want to kiss you." Grant is almost never this bold, in fact he doubts he's ever outright told a girl he wanted to kiss her before, but he's already wearing a stupid sweater in front of a very smart, funny, attractive woman; he's already plenty embarrassed so he might as well go for broke.

Grant isn't sure who leans in first but before he knows it, his lips are on hers. He can taste remnants of hot chocolate on her lips and feel her smile against him and he thinks it's the greatest kiss he's ever had.

;;

Monday morning Skye comes rushing into Grant's office yet again. He can tell by the look on her face that she knows.

"Is what I'm hearing true? Did you take Bobbi's cute friend out after the party and kiss her in a super romantic fashion?" She asks, wriggling her eyebrows for effect.

Grant starts to crumple up a paper ball.

"Oh my god you're blushing! You totally did! I told you the holidays bring out the best in people. Your little Grinch-y heart has grown three sizes - " She's stopped by the paper ball dinking her right between the eyes.

"Get out, Skye." She makes a face at him and he waits until she's safely far enough away to pull out his phone.

He means to send a text to Bobbi - ' _please refrain from telling Skye anything about my love life_ ' - but hesitates to smile at his phone's new background: him and Jemma smiling like dorks in their awful Christmas sweaters.

Grant's never been more grateful for an ugly sweater in his life.

**Author's Note:**

> i meant to post this days ago but i got stuck editing the heck out of it. i hope it's not too terrible. me and fluff don't always get along. kudos/comments are much appreciated! :)


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